Case Study: RCGP Practique Exam Management

Overview

The RCGP holds practical clinical assessment exams four times a year. The exams are designedto assess a doctor’s ability to integrate and apply appropriate clinical, professional,communication and practical skills in General Practice. During these exams, each candidateundertakes 13 simulated consultations (each lasting 10 minutes) with a trained role player whoplays the role of the patient. A trained examiner sits in the background and observes theconsultations and marks the candidate on their data gathering, technical and clinical assessment,clinical management and interpersonal skills. Candidates are then provided with detailedfeedback after the assessment.

Industry: Medical Education and TrainingLocation: London, UKSize: 50,000 members globally.

About RCGPRCGP is the professional membership body forGPs in the UK. Its purpose is to encourage, fosterand maintain the highest possible standards ingeneral medical practice.The RCGP support GPs through all stages of theircareer, from medical students considering generalpractice, through to training, qualified years andretirement.

"It’s hard to envisage stagingthe Clinical Skills Exam nowwithout this system”

- Tom DasturHead of Assessment, RCGP

"Practique offers a veryeffective means for delivery ofour MRCGP Clinical SkillsAssessment, which is takenannually by some 4,000 GPspecialty trainees”

Live since

2013Number of Clinical Stations

90Exams managed annually

4000

The ChallengePre-Fry the exams were paper based. This resulted in large amounts of administration and staff time, sizeable quantities of paper and extensive photocopying. Inaddition, assessment day sometimes proved stressful for those managing it, particularly if last minute changes had to be made to the paper work. What’s more,marking and feedback were time-consuming and called for significant human input to ensure consistency and deliver fast and effective feedback to candidates.

The RCGP were aware that there were opportunities to benefit from significant efficiencies and improvements by automating the process.

The OptionsThe options open to the RCGP were:

1. Do nothing and stick with the paper-heavy and people-heavy system.2. Pull together a combination of other system options and paper.3. Build a solution in-house.4. Identify a specialist supplier to build the perfect solution.

RCGP investigated these 4 solutions and fortunately for Fry, it was to us thatthey looked for their ultimate solution because the others didn’t fulfil their needsin the same way. In order to relieve the RCGP of the issues they were facing,Fry proposed and produced an easy to use, reliable paperless exam system toreplace the paper-heavy and people-heavy system previously used by theRCGP in their clinical skills assessments. The Fry solution is a simple to use andeffective tool whereby both the examiner and the person being examined gainaccess using an iPad (the RCGP use iPads but the system can easily beadapted for use on other electronic devices).

The SolutionThe introduction of the Fry solution means that the administration for the entireexamination process is simplified and calls for minimum effort, resulting insignificant time savings. The system enables the examining body to easilyhandle co-ordination, administration and scheduling for examiners, role playersand candidates as well as case and station assignment, curriculum, questionbank, standard setting and candidate feedback.

What’s more, the Fry solution facilitates easy, accurate and consistent markingby examiners. Candidates are able to effortlessly view case notes andexaminers can reveal additional information (for example blood test results) ifand when required. The system has the capability for extensive reporting sothat the examining body can track results and manage statistics using a range ofdifferent criteria as desired.

In summary, this system ensures the smooth running of the examination andprovides support throughout the whole process, from beginning to end.

About FryFry has been serving the education and medical sector for almost two decades. Our missionis to help improve and save people's lives through technology. Our products are helping toprepare doctors and healthcare professionals for the challenges they will face. Our customersspan the globe. Over 40% of all undergraduate UK medical students are assessed using ourproducts. Some of the world's top institutions trust Fry to deliver their high-stakes assessment,training and CPD. Universities such as: Imperial College, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool andCardiff. Several Royal Colleges in the UK use Fry's assessment products. All medicalspecialists in Canada will be assessed using Fry's products. Fry also has customers in theRepublic of Ireland, Australia and Singapore.

www.fry-it.com, info@fry-it.comFry-IT Limited, 68 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JLCompany number 04091032, VAT number 766 8377 70

The Results

We are proud to say that this system, since going live in May 2013 has now enabled the seamless processing of several thousand candidates. Here are just some ofthe advantages and benefits that the RCGP have already enjoyed and continue to enjoy to this day:

Significant short and long-term cost savings.

An intuitive, easy to use and flexible system that requires little examiner training and enables students to get started straight away.

Rapid feedback for requests for information from students during the assessment.

Increased flexibility with respect to location, timing and making last minute changes to examination questions.

Greater storage efficiency and storage costreductions. Tens of thousands of papers, questions and answers can be stored on a server compared to the physical space required for paper.

Facility to introduce enhanced question styles incorporating interactivity and multimedia.

Easy, fast feedback for exam candidates.Reduced risk